Fire up that smoker!
Grilled and Smoked Tri Tip Steak
Serves: 2 to 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tri-tip steak (2-3 pound)
- 4 or 5 tablespoons of your favorite steak dry rub (or make your own using salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and brown sugar.)
- Optional: mesquite or hickory wood chips for smoking
DIRECTIONS
- Place the tri-tip steak on a large rimmed plate or dish and evenly coat both sides with your rub.
- Turn the heat on grill on one side only and if using them, fill your smoker box with wood chips. Let the grill get hot and wait for the wood chips to start smoking. If not using the wood chips, give the grill a good 10 minutes to get to about 350 degrees.
- Sear the tri-tip over the heat on both sides, about 5 minutes per side.
- Move the steak to the other side of the grill where there are no flames and close the grill for roughly 20 more minutes (see notes for temperature and time.)
- Take the steak off the grill and let rest for at least 5 minutes, where it will continue to cook. Don’t miss the “just off the grill” photo below.
- Carve away! (See video and notes about carving below!)
NOTES
- Take the tri-tip steak out of the fridge an hour early and let it come to room temperature. You can even put the rub on before letting it sit. Just don’t throw it on the grill cold!
- For a medium-rare tri-tip steak you should be good after this amount of time.. if you don’t trust your instincts (which is totally okay) you can use a meat thermometer by inserting it into the middle of the steak and getting a read of 130 degrees.
- Carving a tri-tip steak isn’t rocket science but I recommend looking at this guide as this particular cut of steak has a grain that runs in two different directions.
Rodney Roe says
David you now live in the south and tri-tip is so California. We eat brisket down here in the real world (even if you’re not in Texas). May I make a suggestion or a request? Would you consider listing suggested sides with the main dishes along with a suggested wines, red, white, etc., along with maybe even with a specific personal favorite brand, type, year, ect.
David says
Working on my brisket recipe as we speak! I think you’ll be happy with all the testing we’ve done to get it right. That’s a good suggestion, I’ve done it for one or two of these recipes but I’ll consider adding to the rest!
Kathy Allman says
All of the recipes out there for smoked and seared tri-tip use the reverse sear method. I found your recipe because I am a Dave Rubin fan who loves to cook and he mentioned your online cookbook with this favorite. Your method yields perfect results. With a reverse sear it is easy to take the meat too far because on a hot grill, you just have to remove the temperature probe and test often. (I have melted expensive probes as proof.) Your method results in a perfect sear and the slow smoke to the finish line equals a precise final temperature. Genius. Thank you.
David says
Thanks for the great feedback! Glad you enjoyed…